We Don't Need No Stinkin' Mice

Earlier today, I posted a piece on a group of researchers who have discovered a major security flaw with any and all USB accessories. Suffice it to say this is a novel solution: why not remove an accessory from the equation?

Computer mice are old hat. They haven’t had a major design breakthrough in a long while. Besides moving to optical and sporting ever-finer resolutions, they’re pretty much done evolving. It could be argued that mice, therefore, have reached the pinnacle of their evolution – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But whatever, let’s throw our mice out anyway. But what will we use instead?

Nothing.

Enter Mouseless, a new interaction design concept by Pranav Mistry, Patti Maes, and Liyan Chang that does away with the computer mouse in favour of… the illusion of a computer mouse. How practical, guys. Seriously, though, it’s kind of a cool idea. Working in tandem, an IR laser and camera keep track of your hand’s movement and, presumably, where your fingers are breaking the laser field, creating a mouse experience without the mouse itself. Think Minority Report, only not as exciting.

Personally, I don’t think this would, or should, replace a trusty mouse any time soon, but it would be a pretty handy addition to a laptop, where the less you have to lug around, the better.

And now, for the cutest presentation video you’re going to see all day.

Ty is an illustrator who stays up too late, and has to wear glasses. You can follow him on Twitter if you want to (@glitchritual), but he's just gonna throw your stupid PR crap in the garbage, so don't email him. SEE MORE ARTICLES BY "Ty Dunitz"